The Quiet Social Networks

When we talk about social networks, we are talking about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Myspace. Usually in that order. Let’s take a look at their number of users. Facebook is obviously the Goliath in the room.

These big four social networks are the most social, most active, most feature rich communities. Or are they? They certainly are the full featured social networks in the traditional sense. But there are many quiet communities out there that are building very significant numbers.

Should we be giving more thought to these quiet social networks?

Some things to consider

Pandora is growing their member base faster than LinkedIn

Farmville has more active monthly users than Twitter

Gmail will soon be larger than Myspace

Yes, Pandora is just for music and has not built in many social tools. And Farmville is just a game with little interactions outside of clicking on farm images. And Gmail is private and email and not a basis for a true social network.

This is the thing though. These are massive user bases. And they are highly active user bases. A much larger percentage of Farmville and Gmail uses are active daily users than Twitter and LinkedIn.

Gmail is of course the biggest threat to somehow leverage this user base into a traditional social network, as recent rumors have Google entering the social networking sphere with a new product soon.

But anywhere you have these types of numbers in a community, already interacting with media or other people, and there are possibilities for marketers, for investment, and for integration.

What communities are you seeing quietly acquire large audiences?

Share this:

From what I have heard from other social media friends, it seems a lot of teenagers are still apart of Myspace, and maybe that continues to be their playground to say as there is more hype over Facebook.

Its interesting because on the 2nd chart, I wouldn't consider most of them besides Facebook, Twitter, linkedin, myspace.

I sorta can understand Pandora as you share music, plus Farmville you play

Google does have a lot of the pieces to make a social network already in place. They have Blogger, Buzz, Picasa, Profiles, Sites, Reader, News, Groups, Talk, Calendar, YouTube and a couple of others. What they need is to be able figure out how to tie all these together in a cohesive whole. I think that is going to be hard to do.

Right now it is just a jumble of disjointed siloed services. Connecting them together and combining the content is a challenge.

Do the Gmail numbers account for Google Buzz? I am not really a fan of it, but I know whenever I 'star' items in my Google Reader, it is sharing it on Buzz, so technically I'm a user. I don't really know anyone else using it, but it could get more popular.

And I saw a 7-11 promotion recently where they used Farmville points (or whatever the rewards are in that game) as a prize. It was something like buy a Slurpee, get some points. Really simple, but I'm sure those super active Farmville users loved it!

And as for new networks, I've recently seen the power of Yelp. I was invited to one of their Elite events (for active users) and was blown away by the sense of community and ownership these 'Yelpers' have over the site. Here in Saint Louis, we have a community manager (Abby, @yelpstlouis), and I think that helps. Yelp here is becoming more than just a review site, it is becoming a community of users.

Katie, I include Gmail because it is such an active tool for most people.And once you have a gmail account, you also have a Google account, meaningthey have the chance to loop you into their Reader, Youtube, Calendar, Buzz,and what looks to be the basis of their new social network, Profiles.

It is less about Gmail and more about the fact that Google has all theseactive users on their products. If they roll out a social network that isdecent, they have an amazing opportunity to convert this user base intoeasily the second largest social network and finally create a platform thatcan compete with Facebook.

Good stuff. Blip is one of my favorite social networks. It's not as feature rich as others, but it's built around passion (music) and it's a good place to meet audiences I'm not meeting on more “work-related” networks like Twitter. Plus, it has badges, like Foursquare and GoWalla, which hooks me despite my best efforts.

And don't forget the thousands of small networks built on Ning, which is a pretty feature-rich platform itself.

socialstacy

I always thought Twitter was ahead of Myspace – you hear so many people talk about only Twitter and FB now, never Myspace.

I can't believe if there is another network besides facebook that is bigger than Twitter! What are the metrics you had considered in showing these figures? Of course myspace has good play in social networks but is it bigger that Twitter?

The specific best investment for any given brand is an odd thing. It can be all over the map. Agreed. I was talking mainly about broader investment by large brands. But it is important for all companies to consider the best investment for them.

I doubt it Nick. I was more referencing large untapped communities. Pandora could turn on a couple features, or connect to other existing networks even more (like they already do with Facebook) and it would be a powerful asset.

I think what I am referencing for the most part here is better described as untapped large communities that could easily be leveraged with better social integration. Either with social tools on the existing communities or by integrating with other platforms.

I understand what you're saying with this post, Jason, but I don't think it's terribly substantial. The crux of your point here is that these are potentially powerful things because they represent a large and active user base – I don't, think, however that GMail and Farmville are social networks.

Simply put, if your criteria for something being a social network is simply that it has a lot of actively engaged users, why not just put 'The Internet' and make it an even more enormous bar? And what about all those porn sites that allow people to make comments? They're big, right?

I don't really think you've said much here.

Blueitup

if you watch what google is doing, you'll also understand JAKROSE comment. google has implemented alot of tools that are catching on fast to its users and new users alike. with the introduction of google VOICE/WAVE/BUZZ/CALLPHONE. you can social network to all your friends, make calls, video chat, txt,share and edit documents,real time search, etc.plus with the google phones and iphone and andriod apps you can link it all to your mobile device.

Jason Keath is a refreshing voice on creative culture and digital trends. He is a keynote speaker, writer, and entrepreneur.